GOLD Coast pet owners will be slugged $369 for a breeder’s licence if they want their cat or dog to have a litter.

Cat owners will also have to pay to register their cats for the first time this year.

It will cost $17.50 to register a desexed cat and $35 for an undesexed cat, according to a draft schedule of fees being considered by the Gold Coast City Council.

Mayor Ron Clarke said the new charges would make pet owners more responsible.

He said ratepayers were picking up the tab for unwanted puppies and kittens dumped in the streets.

“A lot of people give pups to their kids for Christmas and abandon them in two weeks because they’re going on holidays,” he said.

“Every one that’s dumped with us or we pick up in the streets, we go through a pretty expensive program where you have to immunise them and desex them for sale and the cost to the community is pretty high.

“It’s even worse with cats.

“The only way you can make them responsible is to hit their pockets.”

The breeder permit scheme has been slammed by the pet industry as ‘mandatory desexing by stealth’.

The scheme was led by the Animal Welfare League and backed by the State Government, which could introduce the permits throughout Queensland if they prove successful.

It aims to clamp down on dodgy backyard breeders, but ordinary pet owners will also have to apply for the licences if they want a litter.

Permit holders would also have to desex kittens, but not puppies, when they sell them.

The breeder permit would last for three years and include the cost of site inspections to ensure prospective breeders comply with regulations.

Cat registration became compulsory on July 1 last year but Gold Coast owners have enjoyed a one-year grace period and free registration during that time.

The cost of registering a dog is expected to remain steady at $48 for a desexed dog and $96 undesexed.

Pensioners receive a 50 per cent discount on cat and dog registrations.

The council will consider the schedule of fees during the budget process.